Play Populous II - Trials of the Olympian Gods (Japan) Online

Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods came out on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993, developed by Bullfrog and published by Imagineer in Japan. It was part of that wave of ambitious strategy titles that pushed the SNES beyond platformers and RPGs, offering a different kind of control over the game world.

You play as a god influencing mortal followers, using powers like earthquakes and floods to shape the land and crush rival worshippers. The main goal is to outmaneuver enemy deities by raising your own population's faith while systematically dismantling opposition settlements. Key mechanics include altering terrain height to direct settlement growth, summoning disasters to wipe out enemy clusters, and managing your divine power meter to time interventions. The pacing is deliberate, almost chess-like, with difficulty stemming from balancing limited resources against an opponent doing the same. It feels like conducting a slow, satisfying symphony of destruction from above.